Through the ubiquity of mobile devices, modern consumers have almost constant access to communication services at any time of the day. As a result, many users find themselves in situations where they may not be able to accept a call or otherwise respond to a communication request. For example, the user may be in an environment (e.g., a meeting, a noisy environment where hearing is difficult they support, etc.) or may be performing a task (e.g., driving, etc.) that prevents the user from immediately accepting the call or communication session. Generally, when faced with such a situation, a user may simply elect to not answer the call or to have the caller go to voice mail. However, there are times when the user would nonetheless like to take the call directly rather than miss the call.
In parallel, communications service providers are continually challenged to develop new services and features to remain competitive and to develop new sources of revenue.
Therefore, there is a need for an approach that provides for placing a communication session on hold before the called party answers the communication session or the communication is forwarded to an answering service and for notifying the calling party accordingly.